


18th Birthday

by purpletiger20



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Party, Birthday Presents, Cute, Cute Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Love Confessions, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24824020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purpletiger20/pseuds/purpletiger20
Summary: Happy 18th Birthday Jason!!AU where burning maze never happened and a demigod finally made it to 18
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Dakota/Gwendolyn (Percy Jackson), Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Jason Grace/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	18th Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own the characters, Rick Riordan does

“Hey, Jason, are you busy?”  
Jason looked up to see Hazel standing in his doorway, a wide smile on her face.  
“Not really, I’m just finishing up some notes on the remodeling ideas,” he said, responding to his friend’s smile with one of his own. Something about Hazel’s warm smile always made it contagious.  
“Good, because I need you to come with me,” she responded, leaning forward to stand on her toes. Jason could tell she wasn’t telling him everything--she might as well have been wearing a t shirt that said, “I have a secret!”  
“Okay,” he said, slightly wary as he stood up. “Is anything wrong?”  
“No, no, not at all. It’s a surprise,” Hazel said. “A good surprise!”  
Jason stacked up his loose papers and left his glasses sitting on top of them. “Well, take me away, then.”  
He walked with Hazel down the main road in New Rome to Frank’s apartment, just next door to Reyna’s in the praetors’ area.  
“Close your eyes!” Hazel stopped a few feet away from the front door. Jason obliged, then felt Hazel take his hand and heard her swing the door open. He was led a few feet in, then Hazel released his hand and told him he could open his eyes.  
“Surprise!”  
Jason opened his eyes to see his friends all gathered in Frank’s tiny living room, sitting on the couch and floors. Percy and Annabeth sat in the corner of the couch, Nico leaned up against the wall beside them, and Leo sat against the wall with his legs crossed, a pile of bronze scraps in his lap. Dakota and Gwen were sat behind the coffee table, which was covered in bowls and trays of snacks. Dakota held an overflowing cup of his trademark red kool-aid, and Gwen held a fistful of napkins. Behind the couch, standing halfway in the hall was Piper, staring at the ground.  
“Wow, you guys! Thank you, everyone,” Jason said, meeting everyone’s eyes with a big smile. He’d nearly forgotten himself--it was his eighteenth birthday. He’d survived to adulthood, against all odds.  
“Happy birthday, Jason!” Frank emerged from the kitchen holding an enormous cake decorated with sloppy icing and a barely legible “happy birthday Jaso-”. The end of his name hit the side of the cake, and from what he could see, there was a lopsided n running off the edge.  
“It’s amazing,” he laughed.  
“Reyna’s supposed to be bringing candles, I don’t know why she’s not here yet,” Frank said, glancing past Jason to the door.  
“It’s okay, she’s probably busy,” Jason said, although he wished Reyna were there as well.  
“How about you open some presents while we wait for her?” Hazel asked, standing on her tiptoes beside Frank.  
“Yeah, c’mon Sparky,” Percy chimed in from the couch. Hazel nudged Jason back towards the chair at the center of the room with a single purple balloon tied to the back of it.  
“You’ve got to sit on the birthday throne,” Leo said with a wry grin that made Jason slightly suspicious.  
“Open mine first,” Percy said, chucking a small wrapped box at Jason as he sat in the “birthday throne.” Jason barely caught the box.  
He tore off the badly taped paper. “Who wrapped this, a blind monkey?” Jason asked, smirking towards Percy.  
“I did,” came Annabeth’s growled response.  
Jason froze, then shot her an innocent smile. “I mean, a blind monkey with an extreme blessing for wrapping gifts,” he said, trying to save himself.  
Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Just open the box,” she said, smiling in spite of herself.  
Jason opened the box to find a shiny gold watch, engraved with the SPQR symbol at the top and Camp Half Blood’s symbol at the bottom. “Nice! Thanks, Percy, Annabeth,” Jason said, pulling out of the box to examine it.  
“Hit that little button on the side,” Percy said, gesturing unhelpfully.  
Jason touched the tiny gold button, and the watch face changed to display a radar type scan with a few gold blips towards the edges.  
“It’s a monster compass,” Annabeth explained. “It won’t work too well inside of camp, but it should be useful in the field,” she said.  
“Thanks, guys,” Jason said again, laying the watch over his wrist and fastening the back of it.  
“Mine next!” Leo pulled a small package out of his tool belt and tossed it to Jason, who caught it easily. The gift was wrapped in a leather drawstring pouch, which Jason tucked away as he unwound the tissue paper covering the present to reveal a pair of simple black glasses.  
“They’re enchanted, obviously. They’ll automatically translate both Greek and Latin, plus they can see through any Mist, even if it’s put there by a god,” Leo explained.  
“That’s awesome! Thanks, Leo,” Jason said. He slid the glasses on.  
“They look great,” Hazel said, giving him a smile and a thumbs up.  
“You started presents without me?” Will appeared in the hallway and crossed the living room to Nico’s sign, flashing him a blinding smile. A tiny smile spread over Nico’s face when Will stopped next to him and took his hand. “Did you give him ours yet?” Nico shook his head, then pulled a small picture frame from his jacket.  
“Sorry, I didn’t have time to wrap it,” Nico said as he passed the frame to Jason.  
Jason turned the frame to reveal a photo of a young woman with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. A little girl with wild black hair and the same blue eyes clung to her hand, and there was a baby in her arms. Jason blinked quickly to keep back the stinging in his eyes, then looked up at Nico with a wobbly smile.  
“Thanks, Nico. I love it,” he said. Nico gave him a nod, but his eyes were warm. Will smiled down at Nico and squeezed his hand.  
“Hey, we got you a photo, too,” Dakota said, holding out what appeared to be a shoebox covered in duct tape.  
“Kota!” Gwen smacked his arm with her handful of napkins. “You’re not supposed to say anything until he’s opened it,” she hissed.  
“Oh, right. Well, here it is anyways,” Dakota said with a sheepish grin, passing Jason the box.  
After a few minutes attempting to open the box and eventually accepting Percy’s offer of using Riptide, Jason was holding another frame with a photo of he, Reyna, Dakota, Gwen, and a few of their old friends from the Fifth.  
Jason grinned up at the two. “Thanks guys!”  
“Told you he’d like it,” Dakota whispered to Gwen. She sighed, but smacked a kiss on his cheek anyways.  
“I’ll go next,” Frank piped up from the couch. He passed Jason a small box with a single bow on the top. Jason pulled the lid off to reveal a collection of photos, medals, ribbons, and other memorabilia.  
“I was cleaning out the office before I moved in, and I found a bunch of stuff I figured you’d want back,” Frank explained. He looked a bit sheepish.  
“Thanks, man!” Jason pulled out a medal he’d won during his second war games. “I forgot about some of this stuff,” he laughed.  
“Here’s mine,” Hazel said, holding up a pale purple envelope. She passed it to Jason with a glowing smile, then spun to sit at Frank’s feet. Jason opened the envelope carefully to find a card.  
The words “happy birthday, Jason! Thanks for all you do,” were written in Hazel’s neat cursive. As he read the card, a slip of paper fell onto his lap. It said FREE BROWNIES in a messy scrawl.  
“Think of it as a…” Hazel trailed off, unsure of the word she was thinking of. “What is it again?” she asked Frank.  
“A gift card,” Frank supplied. Jason grinned.  
“From that one place in New Rome that you like,” Hazel said.  
“Thanks, Hazel,” Jason said with a broad smile. “Can’t wait.” He moved to set the envelope amongst his collection of bags, boxes, and frames. “Thank you guys. This is definitely the best birthday I’ve had in awhile.”  
He was met by a chorus of “you’re welcome.”  
“I’ve actually got something, too,” came Piper’s voice from the corner. Everyone else immediately fell silent, glancing between the two.  
Jason gave her a slightly strained smile. “Really? Thanks Piper,” he said. She passed him a tiny box which he opened to reveal a delicate gold chain necklace with a tiny lightning bolt charm at the center. Piper gave him a small smile, and he set the box at his feet with the others.  
After a moment of awkward silence, Frank said, “Apparently our candles got lost in transit, so who wants cake?”  
The response was, obviously, all positive. Jason found himself glancing towards the door, wishing not for the candles, but the girl who was supposed to have brought them.  
Frank passed out plates of clumsily cut cake, and soon there was a dull roar of conversation and laughter coming from every direction. Each of his friends came by and wished him a happy birthday and he bounced between conversations.  
It was great to have time with his friends to laugh and talk without the threat of imminent impending death, but he couldn’t stop looking towards the door.  
Sometime after the sun had gone down, the group started disappearing one by one. Eventually only Jason and Hazel were left in Frank’s living room. Hazel was sitting on the couch with her legs pulled up against her chest, tucked into Frank’s side.  
Jason collected his gifts, shoving them all into a grocery bag Frank had given him.  
“Thanks guys, that was awesome,” he said, offering the two a smile.  
“Of course, Jason,” Hazel said with a sweet smile.  
“Want to bring a couple pieces of cake?” Frank offered.  
“Why not?” Jason said, shrugging.  
“I’ll get it for you,” Frank said, starting to get up.  
“Don’t worry, I got it,” Jason said. “You’ve got a girl to keep comfortable.”  
Frank laughed a bit, then quieted as Hazel muttered something, resting her chin on his shoulder.  
Jason crossed the room into the kitchen to put a couple slices of cake onto a paper plate. He stabbed a fork through the cake and crept back through the living room so as not to disturb the young couple.  
“Bye, Jason,” Hazel called as he closed the door.  
Jason stood outside the door for a moment, taking a deep breath. The last streaks of the sunset were still reaching across the sky.  
The sound of clinking keys made him turn his head to find Reyna holding an armful of papers and struggling to unlock her door.  
“Hey, stranger,” Jason said, crossing to her side. He gently took the papers from her arms and pulled the keys from her fingers. “You look exhausted.”  
“Yeah. Sorry I didn’t make it to the party,” she muttered, leaning her forehead against the door. Jason pushed it open and stepped back so she could get inside. “Come inside.”  
Jason stepped inside and set the stack of papers on the small table just inside the door, dropping the keys just on top of them.  
Soft music drifted from somewhere in the house. “You okay?” Jason asked.  
“Just a long day,” Reyna said, shoving back her loose dark hair. “I really did mean to make it to the party. See?” She held up a small box of candles. “Something came up, and the senators needed to speak with me, then a few of the Lares had an issue that needed resolving, and--”  
Jason cut her off, catching her hands in his. “It’s alright. It was just a party.”  
“I know, I just should’ve been there,” she said.  
“Hey, come here.” Jason folded her into his arms and she hooked her arms around his waist, resting her forehead on his shoulder. “You had a rough day. It’s no big deal, really.”  
“It’s just...I already missed more of your birthdays than I wanted to and I wanted to spend the day with you and--”  
Jason cut her off. “Sweetheart, it’s really no big deal. I can stay here for a few minutes, if that’s okay, and we’ll get some lunch or something tomorrow.”  
Reyna’s heart skipped a beat at the pet name she hadn’t heard in years. She could hear the steady beating of his heart and the warmth of his chest. The war goddess and hardened leader in her yelled for her to push him away and return to the invincible stronghold she was around everyone else. But it was Jason, and he was here, and he was holding her. So she tightened her arms around his waist.  
“Okay,” she whispered.  
“Listen,” Jason said. “It’s our song.”  
Reyna held her breath, listening intently. Sure enough, the warbling sound of the song they’d always had playing when they were both praetors drifted down her hallway.  
Jason slid his hand to rest on her waist and took her hand in his. He led her in a slow sway to the sound of the music, resting his chin on top of her head.  
“I saw Piper leaving camp,” Reyna said, voicing the thought plaguing her mind.  
“She was at the party,” Jason said.  
Reyna didn’t say anything, unsure of just what it was she wanted to know.  
“You know we’re over, right? Honestly, I don’t know if we ever should’ve happened,” he said. Reyna could feel his voice rumble in his chest.  
“As soon as I got my memories back, when I was still at Camp Half-Blood, I remembered you, and everything I had with her felt...wrong,” Jason finished.  
After a moment of silence, Reyna lifted her head from his chest and met his eyes in the dim light. “I missed you.”  
“I missed you too. Even when I didn’t remember who you were, or who I was, I knew something was missing from me.”  
He studied her face for a long moment, those blue eyes practically sparking. Slowly, he took his hand from hers and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and let his palm come to hold her face. Her eyes dropped to his lips and he leaned down slowly. Reyna impatiently closed the distance, catching him in a long kiss. His hand spread over her waist and pulled her closer, and she reached up to comb her fingers through his hair. The kiss continued, him pulling her ever more tightly against him, her hands finding their way to the hem of his shirt.  
“Hey,” he said, pulling away. He was slightly out of breath, and they were so close she could feel his warm breath fanning over her mouth. “We probably shouldn’t go so fast.”  
Jason wanted nothing more than to go so fast, really, but he didn’t want Reyna feeling like she was a rebound, especially with the thought of Piper so near.  
“Grace, I waited three years for this. That’s slow enough for me. Now put your hands on me,” she said, pulling his mouth back down to hers.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for enjoying my Jeyna fics! I've been writing them for years and finally got the courage to post them
> 
> This piece was co written with a friend who has given me permission to post it and she thrilled to share it with ya'll
> 
> again, I don't own any of the characters cuz if i did jeyna would be canon but alas rick riordan owns them.


End file.
